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MARCH 2008
A number of things have gotten done during February.
A New Review
I have finished my review of the Cullen Circuits modded PS Audio DLIII
Digital Link DAC. The review arrives in two parts. Part one examines the
sound of the dac itself. Part two listens to different upsampling rates and
also compares CD playback to SACD. I hope you find it interesting.
New Speakers
I have purchased a pair of Quad 21L 2 speakers for the living room system
and am currently getting them set-up and broken-in.
The Quads look so much nicer than any speaker I have ever owned that it
has become necessary to do something about the overall appearance of
the LR system. I retired my recycled, home made equipment rank once
again and my wife and I went shopping for something to hold the living
room equipment. Something that actually complements the rest of the
room. Given the prices of audio/video racks and furniture, we did some
looking at Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel to see if we could find some sort
of furniture alternative that was more reasonable. Unfortunately, there is
no IKEA in the St. Louis area, which probably would be a good place to
look for this sort of thing as well.
Results were not good at either PB or C&B but we did find a nice looking,
knock-down TV stand at Target that is working out very well. It supports
the VTL amp and Audio Experiment preamp on its top while providing
shelves for the Sony SCD-C333ES SACD player and my tuner. The unit
also provides some much-needed CD storage. I will put some photos of
the LR in the Quad speaker review when that is finished.
The Quads require longer speaker cables than I have and are also set up
for bi-wiring. I bought a used pair of MIT Terminator 4 bi-wired speaker
cables for them. The speaker cables seem to sound very good and have
the ICONN ends. Fortunately, they came terminated exactly as I needed
them—bananas at the amp and spades at the speakers. The Quads do not
allow the use of banana plugs. I cannot evaluate the speakers or cables
critically, however, until I make a new longer pair of interconnects for the
preamp and amp. The only interconnect that I have at the moment that is
long enough to reach between them is an old pair of Audioquest Quartz
cables. I am pretty sure that my daughter at college is younger than these
cables. I should have the parts to make the new interconnects any day.
Then it will be on to fine tuning things.
I am really excited about these speakers and am looking forward to finding
out how they perform in the LR system.
Some New Outlets
Anticipating the new speakers, I spent a day earlier in the month putting in
a new “semi-dedicated” AC circuit to the living room system and to the
home theater system in the family room. I am calling it semi-dedicated
since the same circuit has to serve both systems. Fortunately, both
systems are never on at the same time. I had to use a sub-panel in the
garage as the source since I have no openings in the main breaker box in
the basement.
The new circuits were run to insure that both systems get the current they
require. I used two good quality duplex outlets in each room but nothing
audiophile. I actually think the TV picture is slightly better with the new
circuit. I think the LR system will benefit from the new outlets as well. At
least I know for certain now that the refrigerator is not on the same circuit
as the VTL.
Same Old Ears
I have had some vertigo problems recently so my doctor sent me to an
ENT for a check over. I got my hearing tested as part of the visit. While
the dizziness will require further testing, I am happy to relate that my
hearing is excellent. I have some slight high frequency loss above 8000 Hz
in my left ear but otherwise everything is great. While you might not
believe it when reading some of my articles, I am verifiably not deaf.
A Screwup
I recently discovered that I had unintentionally blocked all communications
from Yahoo, my website domain. In an effort to stop some of the spam
that is constantly flooding in, I tried to block some email addresses and
ended up blocking both Yahoo and AOL. So, if you have tried to send me
an email through the web site and gotten it back as undeliverable, it is
completely my fault. Write me again; I love hearing from anyone visiting
the site.
Kent Johnson
February 28, 2008
A number of things have gotten done during February.
A New Review
I have finished my review of the Cullen Circuits modded PS Audio DLIII
Digital Link DAC. The review arrives in two parts. Part one examines the
sound of the dac itself. Part two listens to different upsampling rates and
also compares CD playback to SACD. I hope you find it interesting.
New Speakers
I have purchased a pair of Quad 21L 2 speakers for the living room system
and am currently getting them set-up and broken-in.
The Quads look so much nicer than any speaker I have ever owned that it
has become necessary to do something about the overall appearance of
the LR system. I retired my recycled, home made equipment rank once
again and my wife and I went shopping for something to hold the living
room equipment. Something that actually complements the rest of the
room. Given the prices of audio/video racks and furniture, we did some
looking at Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel to see if we could find some sort
of furniture alternative that was more reasonable. Unfortunately, there is
no IKEA in the St. Louis area, which probably would be a good place to
look for this sort of thing as well.
Results were not good at either PB or C&B but we did find a nice looking,
knock-down TV stand at Target that is working out very well. It supports
the VTL amp and Audio Experiment preamp on its top while providing
shelves for the Sony SCD-C333ES SACD player and my tuner. The unit
also provides some much-needed CD storage. I will put some photos of
the LR in the Quad speaker review when that is finished.
The Quads require longer speaker cables than I have and are also set up
for bi-wiring. I bought a used pair of MIT Terminator 4 bi-wired speaker
cables for them. The speaker cables seem to sound very good and have
the ICONN ends. Fortunately, they came terminated exactly as I needed
them—bananas at the amp and spades at the speakers. The Quads do not
allow the use of banana plugs. I cannot evaluate the speakers or cables
critically, however, until I make a new longer pair of interconnects for the
preamp and amp. The only interconnect that I have at the moment that is
long enough to reach between them is an old pair of Audioquest Quartz
cables. I am pretty sure that my daughter at college is younger than these
cables. I should have the parts to make the new interconnects any day.
Then it will be on to fine tuning things.
I am really excited about these speakers and am looking forward to finding
out how they perform in the LR system.
Some New Outlets
Anticipating the new speakers, I spent a day earlier in the month putting in
a new “semi-dedicated” AC circuit to the living room system and to the
home theater system in the family room. I am calling it semi-dedicated
since the same circuit has to serve both systems. Fortunately, both
systems are never on at the same time. I had to use a sub-panel in the
garage as the source since I have no openings in the main breaker box in
the basement.
The new circuits were run to insure that both systems get the current they
require. I used two good quality duplex outlets in each room but nothing
audiophile. I actually think the TV picture is slightly better with the new
circuit. I think the LR system will benefit from the new outlets as well. At
least I know for certain now that the refrigerator is not on the same circuit
as the VTL.
Same Old Ears
I have had some vertigo problems recently so my doctor sent me to an
ENT for a check over. I got my hearing tested as part of the visit. While
the dizziness will require further testing, I am happy to relate that my
hearing is excellent. I have some slight high frequency loss above 8000 Hz
in my left ear but otherwise everything is great. While you might not
believe it when reading some of my articles, I am verifiably not deaf.
A Screwup
I recently discovered that I had unintentionally blocked all communications
from Yahoo, my website domain. In an effort to stop some of the spam
that is constantly flooding in, I tried to block some email addresses and
ended up blocking both Yahoo and AOL. So, if you have tried to send me
an email through the web site and gotten it back as undeliverable, it is
completely my fault. Write me again; I love hearing from anyone visiting
the site.
Kent Johnson
February 28, 2008